Video: INHERIT THE WIND at Arena Stage

Arena Stage has released a first look video of INHERIT THE WIND, now running through April 5, 2026 at the Mead Center for American Theater. Check out the all-new trailer!

Based on the real-life Scopes Monkey Trial, the play by Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee explores a legal battle over science, religion, and intellectual freedom as a small-town case becomes a national debate. Directed by Ryan Guzzo Purcell, the production marks the return of the play to Arena’s Fichandler Stage five decades after the company’s original staging.

Arena Stage Artistic Director Hana S. Sharif said, "For decades, Inherit the Wind has reminded us that the fight for intellectual freedom is far from abstract, but personal, political, and ongoing. In a city where ideas shape policy and belief shapes power, Inherit the Wind encourages us to think and to consider at what cost we are willing to defend the right to think at all."

The cast includes Arena alumni Alex De Bard, Billy Eugene Jones, Rebecca Madeira, Ethan Miller, Natalya Lynette Rathnam, Todd Scofield, Holly Twyford, and James Whalen. Also featured are Jordan Friend, Alyssa Keegan, Alina Collins Maldonado, Dakin Matthews, Noah Plomgren, and Tristan Turner, all making their Arena Stage debut.

Matthews and Jones portray opposing attorneys Matthew Harrison Brady and Henry Drummond in a trial that examines the intersection of faith, truth, and progress.

The creative team includes set designer Tanya Orellana, Costume Designer An-lin Dauber, lighting designer Xavier Pierce, and sound designer Paul James Prendergast. Casting is by tbd casting co./Stephanie Yankwitt, CSA, and Raiyon Hunter, CSA. The production stage manager is Christi B. Spann, with Stefania Giron Zuluaga as assistant stage manager.

INHERIT THE WIND is part of Arena Stage’s 75th Anniversary Season.